


Rosemary Month 2017

by Laineygaynee



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vriska Serket (mentioned) - Freeform, angry quadrant rambling, other characters show up but only briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:49:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laineygaynee/pseuds/Laineygaynee
Summary: A collection of fics submitted for Rosemary Month 2017, and based around the prompts for said month.





	1. Day 1: first kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go, folks. First fic of the month. Now I might miss some prompts, or do things differently than a prompt suggests due to some of them being more art-focused than fic-focused, but I'll try to consistently post as much fic as possible.

It happened during one of your many strolls through the darkened hallways of the meteor. The two of you took these little escapades to escape the chaos your other friends often incurred, as well as to spend some alone time with each other and make small talk. Having run through the conversational course of the current events in Can Town, you broached a topic that in retrospect might have been a bit on the sensitive side.

“Kanaya,” you said, “You and the other trolls always talk about this quadrant system you have, and while I know it's got something to do with how you conduct romantic affairs, and am at least somewhat familiar with the terminology and function of each quadrant, I've never really familiarized myself with the concept more intimately. Would you care to explain them for me?”

Kanaya sighed, and the perpetual glow she used to light your evening walks dimmed somewhat. It made you worry slightly. Her glow was one of her many charming qualities, and to see it recede in this manner was usually a sign of something gone wrong.

“Well Rose,” shh began, “the thing about quadrants is that they are hoofbeastshit.”

You made a shocked, sort of awkward half-chuckling noise. “Uh. Okay. Would you mind elaborating, or...?”

“Oh no Rose. It's fine. You see, there are four quadrants, and you can only have one troll in each. You cannot have two trolls in the same quadrant, so it's generally expected of you to repress extra feelings you may have towards one of your quadrant mates in spite of your long term health. This strictly enforced system has lead to millennia of social strife, hypocrisy, and mass cullings. For an example of the former, let's use my relationship with Vriska. I was Vriska's moirail, and I performed my duties as a moirail to the best of my ability out of a sense of obligation towards Vriska's mental and physical well-being. This was terrible because I had flushed feelings towards Vriska that I felt the needed to repress in order to be her moirail, because Vriska was certainly not fulfilling her end of the relationship, and because Vriska probably needs a minimum of eight moirails to ensure that she won't accidentally destroy herself. This confused, forced relationship eventually lead to Vriska breaking it off with me, which made me very sad. I then proceeded to die, come back as a rainbow drinker, and punch Vriska in the face in a blind fury, which is the exact opposite of what a good moirail is supposed to do. In short, my desire to be a good moirail lead to me being an awful one.”

The ramble had made Kanaya short of breath, prompting her to refill her lungs with a few exaggerated breaths. You, meanwhile, were left speechless.

After a brief period of stunned silence, you decided to react. “That... does sound pretty bullshit.”

“Indeed,” Kanaya responded with a smile, “but I think your human system solves most of the issues. You don't worry about quadrants. You just enter into relationships with each other without really caring about how many you have or what their exact function is, so long as they are mutually beneficial and healthy.”

You couldn't help but giggle at that. It was a sad giggle, born out of a reaction to a tragic contradiction rather than something actually funny, but it was a giggle nonetheless. “Oh please. Human romance is far from perfect.”

“How so?”

“Well, my attraction towards women would have earned me several titles back on Earth, most of which I will not repeat here out of fear of perpetuating their memory. It would have also earned me a lot of unwarranted distrust, hatred, and jail time in certain territories. There were several reasons for this phenomenon, all of which shouldn't have mattered but did. The parallels between that and what was happening with quadrants on Alternia are actually quite shocking.”

Kanaya looked at you with sad empathy. “That sounds awful, Rose. I'm truly sorry you had to live under such conditions.”

You smiled. Kanaya's kindness seemed to know no bounds. “Thank you. But that's all in the past now. I look forward to building a more perfect society with you and the rest of our friends when this ordeal comes to an end.”

“Certainly, but I think I might have the start of a more personal solution that we can implement right now.”

You cocked an eyebrow. “And what might that be?”

And then it happened. She pulled you in for your first kiss. It was sloppy, lots of testing your boundaries and seeing which form worked best, and it certainly wasn't doing any wonders for either of your makeup. However, it was perfect, so perfect. You felt close during that kiss, felt loved and appreciated as Kanaya's lips embraced yours, felt at home when she gently ran her clawed fingers through your hair, and because of the immense glow that filled the darkness of the hallway, you knew Kanaya felt it too. It was so beautiful that you felt your eyes well up, crying tears of joy at the immense love you felt in that moment.

After far too short a time, you pulled away from each other, your black lipstick reduced to messy smudges on each others' faces. Kanaya grew concerned when she saw the errant tears running down your cheeks along with your eye shadow.

“Rose, you're crying. Are you sad?”

You shook your head, rubbing your face clean with the sleeves of your god tier robe. “Not at all. It was perfect. You're perfect. I love you.”

Kanaya gave you the most wonderful smile you had ever seen. “I love you too.”

 


	2. Day 2: Sun and Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter fic today, but tomorrow will hopefully make up for it.

You sat on top of the roof of the meteor lab, basking in the rays of the Green Sun. Its light wasn't as brilliantly scorching as those of the Alternian sun, and the lime green coloring was a bit off-putting, but it would have to suffice. You missed the heat that the old sun provided on your midday walks, and it felt good to be in the presence of a light source that was brighter than yourself.

Rose emerged from the roof access stairwell. She knew you came up to the roof for these basking sessions whenever you were outside the range of a dream bubble, but usually let you have them to yourself. Today was evidently different.

“Enjoying the view?” She asked.

“Certainly,” you replied, “And you?”

She shot a glance towards the sun, covering her eyes with her arms to shield them from the blinding rays. “Can't say that I do. I always hated the sun. It's heat made salty filth water secrete from my skin during the summer, which dirtied my clothes and ruined my makeup. Plus, it was pretty much the arch nemesis of the goth aesthetic.”

“Oh. Then why, pray tell, are you here?”

“Because I wanted to spend some time with you, dearest.” She strutted over to where you were sitting and sat alongside you, leaning her head on your shoulder. “It almost seems too cruel that Skaia would select such a luminous aspect for a night-loving figure like me.”

You smiled at that. “I can't help but agree with you there. Plus, that god tier robe is an absolutely hideous shade of orange.”

Rose giggled. “It always comes back to the fashion with you, doesn't it?”

“Well, I was going to offer to make you some delightfully gothic outfits that fit with your interests damn near perfectly, but I suppose I'll have to retract that offer if my obsession with creating absolutely stunning garments strikes you as distasteful.”

“Oh please. You need a brooding midnight figure to contrast with your delightful solar radiance. Plus, you love designing dresses. And me.”

You planted a kiss in her hair. “Too true, my dear. Too true.”

 


	3. Day 3: Fashionstuck

You shared a rather large room on the meteor with Kanaya. It was an utter disaster of a space, with walls that were lined with posters and shelves expressing your various interests and floors covered in books and craft supplies. Most of the space was taken up by your girlfriend's fashion projects, a variety of vibrant apparel strewn across mannequins and hangars in various stages of completion, and large volumes of multicolored fabrics occupying a series of bins placed throughout.

It was one of these fashion projects that was the issue of the day. Kanaya had not been kidding when she said that she intended to make you a gothic dress, and had spent most of the day taking your measurements and running around the room gathering every spare bit of black cloth she could find. You spent some time marveling at her methodology, but she soon demanded that you shut your eyes so that the surprise of the final product would not be ruined. After that, all you were left with were the sounds of her footsteps on the hard, metal floor and the mechanical hum of her sewing machine.

After an eternity of blind waiting, Kanaya had finally completed the dress. “You can open your eyes now, dearest.”

When you restored your sight, you gazed upon the most beautiful garment you had ever seen. A web of deep purple embroidery spun its way across a canvas of midnight black, emanating from a amethyst badge in the shape of a squiddle located at the breast. The puffy shoulder pads, wide skirt, and hyper-detailed lacing perfectly evoked Victorian aesthetics, and the color scheme suited your style perfectly.

“What do you think?” Asked Kanaya.

You looked at her again, with yet more happy tears welling up in your face. “You made this for me. It's beautiful. I...” You pulled her in for another kiss, one that was much more practiced and comfortable than the first, but just as fulfilling. After a short while, you pulled away.

“I love it!” You exclaimed.

“That's the best thing you could have said to me, Rose,” She responded, “Now go try it on. I have a matching one in the far back.”

Kanaya departed to fetch her own dress, and you walked over to tend to yours. After holding strands of it in your hands to confirm that it was, in fact, a real dress that Kanaya Maryam had sewn for you, you endeavored to put it on. Doing so was surprisingly simple, the dress having an easy-to-reach zipper on the back that was cleverly obscured by layers of embroidery, and once you had it on, it fit like a glove. You proceeded to admire yourself in the mirror Kanaya had conveniently set up in this little circle of mannequins you found yourself in. Your platinum hair was a bit of a mess, and your make up could have certainly done with a bit of a touch up, but none of that mattered to you. All you could focus on was the elegance of the dress, and the thoughts of the delightful woman who made it for you.

Then, Kanaya emerged in her own gown. It was similar to yours in form, but completely different in color scheme, with rivers of jade green flowing over a golden desert of a dress, coalescing in an emerald virgo badge pinned to the center of her chest. The green-tinged glow of her skin reflected in an array of sequins she had pinned at seemingly every point on the gown, transforming her already brilliant luminescence into a constant barrage of dazzling supernovae.

She twirled for you, letting you take her in at every possible angle. “How do I look?” She asked.

You took a deep breath. “You look... magnificent.”

She blushed slightly, smiling with an unfathomable affection. “Why thank you kindly, dearest. I could say the same for you.” She proceeded to extract her husktop from her sylladex, search her song gallery until she found just the right sort of eighteenth century piano composition to suit your apparel perfectly, and offer you her hand. “Would my lady care for a dance?”

You took it readily. “Of course, my lady. Anything for you.”

The dance was a simple waltz, since neither of you were very practiced with the art of double dancing, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that you were close. You got to take Kanaya in as you moved with her to the beat of the music, feel her heart beating as she pressed her chest to yours, and stare into the reflective beauty of her jade irises floating on a sea of orange.

“I feel like I could spend an eternity like this.” You told her.

“I could not agree more, dearest.” She replied, “I could not agree more.”

 


	4. Day 4: Favorite passtimes

Rose loved the violin. Not a day went by where she didn't devote at least one hour to playing it, softly reaping the wonders of song from her field of strings. Listening to her play had become one of your favorite pass times, and, luckily for you, Rose seemed intent on having a rather extensive session of play as you took care of your plants.

Gardening was a simple task, but it was a difficult one, and one you had an immense passion for. While setting up a field with as much wonderful variety as you had on Alternia would have been impractical in the dark corridors of the Vale, you could still maintain a collection of smaller plants, kept in various pots within the confines of your living space. Rose had even been kind enough to introduce you to some Earth flora, including the flower that turned out to be her namesake. They made fantastic additions to your menagerie, and each of them got a special degree of attention from you, especially today.

After feeding your Southern Alternian hopbeast trap and watering your chrysanthemums, you turned your attention to your roses. A wide variety of hues, from ice white to dark crimson, could be found in the large box in which they were kept, but you knew that that would not be the case for long. After watering the ones that would not go perfectly with your little project, you plucked the rest, about thirty roses in total, from the box, and extracted a purple ribbon from your sylladex. You wrapped the ribbon, but not before peeking behind you to check that Rose was still playing the violin.

You walked up to her, taking a seat next to her on the couch while holding the bouquet behind your back. Rose's eyes, which usually remained closed when she played, popped open when you tapped her on her shoulder.

“Hello, dear,” She said passively, “what do you need?”

“Well, Rose,” you began with a nervous blush, “your violin has been one of the better parts of this journey. The ambiance it provides is incredibly soothing, a welcome gift in these stressful times.”

Now it was Rose's turn to blush. “I'm so glad you like it Kanaya, truly. It was always a favorite hobby of mine as a child, and to hear that it brought joy to someone, especially you, is miraculous.”

“Your welcome, my love. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was benefiting so much from your violin music, that I thought it would be only apt to reciprocate with a product of one of my favorite activities.”

It was then that you produced the bouquet, a hurricane of whites, reds, and pinks with an eye of deep burgundy, from behind your back. You held it out to your girlfriend eagerly. “Do you like it?”

Rose grabbed it from you, taking a deep sniff of the flowers before putting them aside to tackle you into a kiss. She laid on top of you for another brief eternity of passion, locking your lips to her own and grabbing your horns to feel the smooth texture she seemed to have an affinity for. You, in turn, held her waist, pulling her closer to you as you felt her tongue on yours, and blushing a hundred shades of green as the two of you became increasingly entwined in your mutual affection.

After a short infinity, Rose finally pulled up for air. “You really didn't need to do that for me.” She said.

You gave her a sly smile. “Dearest, if this is the reward I get for assembling you a bouquet, than I need to do it much more often.”

Rose showed you her own cocky grin, planting a slight kiss on your cheek before whispering in your ear. “Trust me. It isn't necessary,” and pulling you in for yet another session of intense loving.

 


	5. Day 5: Makeover

“Dearest, there really isn't any need for this.”

Kanaya shook her head. “Listen, Rose, there's a strategy meeting in the common room today, and I'll be damned if I let Vriska show us up with that ridiculous pirate getup of hers.”

“So this is about Vriska, then. Why does it have to involve me?” You asked.

“Well,” replied Kanaya, “it's much easier to make someone else absolutely stunning than it is to do the same for yourself.”

You let out a satisfied hum. “Fair point. Go ahead.”

Thus, the makeover began. Kanaya spared no expense. She used copious amounts of blush, applied a variety of shadows to your eyes, and even used her favorite type of black lipstick, an Alternian brand that was so dark, it seemed to consume the light around it like a miniature black hole. It was a slow process, painful at times, but it was worth it. After about an hour, Kanaya sorted the last of her makeup into the elaborate filing system of her drawer, and handed you a small hand mirror with which to admire her work.

You looked magnificent. Kanaya had reshaped your face down to the last painstaking detail, with new definition being added and old blemishes being obscured. You felt more stylish, intimidating, and, above all else, womanly than ever before.

You smirked. “If the intention was to one-up Vriska, I'm reasonably sure that you've succeeded on that front.”

“Certainly, dearest,” replied your lover, “but what, pray tell is an artist without their muse?”

“Why, I haven't the slightest clue, dear,” You said, pulling her down for a soft peck on the lips, “not the slightest clue at all.”

 

 


	6. Day 6: Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick TW at the top for mentions of alcoholism and descriptions of burning

The distant sound of crying awakened you from your slumber. You rolled around on the bed, only to notice that Rose was not there with you. A creeping sense of dread overcame you, and you leaped from the bed, warily sneaking your way through your living area towards the source of the weeping.

Guided by the light of your skin, you traversed the eerie halls of the Vale, growing ever closer to the voice you were now very sure belonged to your lover. Your fear for what might have become of Rose was a double-edged sword. It motivated you to further your pace, and to find Rose faster, but it also ran the risk of consuming you, causing an untimely panic. It was a constant battle within your mind to keep this fear in check, but it was not one you had to keep up alone for much longer.

After crossing one last corner, you came to a point where the light from your skin suddenly stopped. It was an area shrouded in unending blackness, a writhing mass of singularly abyssal space that refused to suffer anything in the way of luminescence, and in the center of this mass was Rose. She was shrouded in tendrils of white light, which seemed to twitch in time with her sobs. Her skin had turned an unnatural tone of dark gray, and her deep, lavender irises and dark pupils had been consumed by a blinding white, which spilled over onto her face in the form of hideously radiant tears.

When she turned to face you, her face lit up in an expression of utmost terror, and she let out a dreadful screech that caused the tendrils around her to whip about like tall grass in a storm.

“Get away!” Screamed your lover, in a voice that seemed to be joined by millions of others calling out from the darkness that enveloped her, “You weren't supposed to see me like this! I'm hideous!”

You, horrified at the sight of your lover under this amount of cosmically imposed duress, tried to reach out and comfort her. To your horror, the Stygian energy that encircled Rose burned at the touch, causing you to recoil in pain as she continued her deranged ramblings.

“I don't deserve you! He's killing them, killing US, and I abandoned them to be with you! They gave me such powers, such amazing powers, and I WASTED them! I'm NOTHING! It's why I couldn't save my mother! It's why she HATED me so much! It's why she drank! She drank to forget her mistake of picking me up from that meteor crash, to forget that I was always there RUINING HER LIFE! I don't deserve to be happy with you! I deserve to SUFFER!”

As you watched this terrible display of self-loathing, tears welling up in your eyes at the toxic thoughts these obscene creatures had prompted your lover to regurgitate, Rose released one final screech of pain. The darkness suddenly exploded off of her, and you steeled yourself against the pain, the horrible, burning pain, that engulfed you in those brief seconds. Even as you felt your exoskeleton threaten to melt off you from the absurd heat, your thoughts were still with Rose. You could only imagine how terrible it must have been to have gone through what she was going through, since it had been so uniquely atrocious to just watch.

After a few infinitely awful seconds, the Plutonian essence engulfing you dissipated. You looked down at your hands to make sure that your body really hadn't been reduced to dust, and, reasonably sure that it had not, shot a glance towards Rose. She laid on the ground with her back facing you, the color restored to her skin. You scrambled over to her, nervous tears spilling down your cheeks at the thought of what might have become of her. She was unconscious. You didn't know enough about human anatomy to check her pulse, and didn't want to risk shaking her awake and causing more damage, so the only comfort you had was your words.

“Rose,” you wept, “Rose, please be okay. They were wrong Rose. You're not nothing. You deserve me. You deserve the world! I don't know what I'd do without you, Rose! I love you! Just please be okay!”

Rose opened her eyes, her lavender eyes, just briefly, and whispered “Thank you,” before returning to her slumber. You breathed a sigh of relief. She was okay. In fact, she was perfect, and you didn't know what you would do without her. You loved her, so much so that you laid with her in that Stygian hall for the rest of the night, until finally, she woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to make the angst fic and the recovery fic into a two part mini-series. The second part will be posted tomorrow.


	7. Day 7: Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous chapter.

You awakened with an awful headache, the kind of pulsating discomfort you only felt after hangovers on the earlier, less fortunate parts of your journey. It was also uncomfortably bright, but it was only after your vision cleared that you were able to figure out why.

Kanaya was laying next to you, her eyes bloodshot, the bags under them heavy. In spite of this, she seemed elated to notice that you were awake.

“Rose!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms around you for a hug, “Rose, you're okay! I was so worried, so terribly worried! They made you say such awful things, Rose, and the burning! What was that?”

Then it all came back to you. The Terrors had visited you in the night for another one of their sessions of spite, and this one had been discovered by your lover. You began to sob into her shoulder at the memory, and at the awful pain she must have gone through on that night.

Kanaya was undoubtedly more concerned to see you burst into tears like this, but she gave you time to cry. After a little while, an explanation began to pour out of you along with your tears. “It's the Horrorterrors. I made a... a pact with them during my session. They let me see the future, and reshape the world in my image, but not for free. They wanted me to help them defeat Lord English. He's out there in the void, slaughtering them to the point of extinction, and they expect _me_ to stop him. He's too powerful for me, or anyone else, but they don't care! They expect me to fulfill my role, and if I don't, than they torture me with these awful periods of... well I don't even know what, but it fucking sucks okay! Shit!”

“How long has this been going on?” Asked Kanaya.

“At first it was frequent, too frequent,” you continued, “but they've been getting less so as time goes on. English must be depopulating them quite effectively, and I say good fucking riddance!”

“Rose,” Kanaya began, “Why didn't you tell me? I don't know what I could have done to stop these episodes from happening, but I could've at least known, and been there for you!”

“I... I didn't deserve it!” You screamed, as tears and snot ran down your face, “Those things I said last night are true! My mother didn't want me, so she started drinking to forget I was there! She didn't feed me, didn't talk to me, didn't spend time with me. All she did was pull off these passive-aggressive stunts to try and infuriate me, and I played along! I hated her! But... but she was my mother! I was supposed to love her, unconditionally, and be her perfect little daughter, but I failed! That's why she hated me! My whole life was a failure!”

At this point, you were bawling into Kanaya's shoulder uncontrollably, and, judging by the wetness you felt on your own shoulder, Kanaya was crying along with you. She pulled you away to stare into your eyes, and sure enough, there were jade green tears running down her face.

“Rose,” she began, “when you first arrived here, I was at the lowest point of my life. My planet, the hope for my species, my friends, and even my very life had been taken away from me. I felt lost, unloved, and afraid, but you changed that. You kept me company on this horrible rock. You loved me in a way I had never been loved before, and I feel more complete every second I spend with you. That's... that's why it pains me so much to see you like this, and to hear you say these things about yourself. You're not a failure, Rose! You're wonderful! You saved my life!”

You threw your arms around her for another hug, tightly grasping her with all of your strength. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't tell you!” You yelled.

“It's fine, Rose,” she replied, “it's fine.”

“No! It's not fine! You trusted me so much, and I was dishonest, and... and I... I love you!”

“It's okay, Rose. I forgive you, and I love you too.”

You sniffled. “I... I just... Thank you! For everything!”

The two of you laid there for a few minutes, crying into each others' shoulders. Slowly but surely, you felt the water works start to ease off, until finally, you stopped. You pulled away from Kanaya, wiping tears from your eyes with the sleeves of your shirt.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“Yes,” You replied, “I think so.”

“Good.” She stood up, grabbing your hand to help you up along with her. “I never want to be kept in the dark about this again, okay? I'll be there for every one, until they're gone for good.”

“Of course,” You responded, as the two of you started trekking back towards your living space, “and I'm dreadfully sorry, again. Half the stuff I said back there was just me projecting. I never really knew how my mother felt about me.”

“That doesn't make your feelings towards your mother any less valid. It's healthy to let your emotions out sometimes, Rose, and I'm glad that I got to help you with it.”

You blushed at that. “You really are the sweetest person I have ever met, aren't you?”

“I feel just the same about you, dearest,” she replied with a wink.

True to her word, Kanaya stayed with you for every dreadful curse the Horrorterrors placed on you, until finally, roughly two years into your trip, they ceased forever. Even after that, Kanaya was always there for you, and you were always there for her in turn.

 


	8. Day 24: Proposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Skipping two weeks of Rosemary month? It's more likely than you'd think. I'll post a longer fic tomorrow to make up, but for now:

You were nervous. This was perfectly natural, and you knew that. You were approaching an encounter that, in an alternate timeline, had gone so completely wrong that fixing it required the rewiring of the entire fabric of reality. Even with how prepared you were, with all the inhabitants of this dismal rock having spent untold dozens of hours in strategy meetings and combat training, there was always going to be that niggling doubt in the back of your mind that something was going to go terribly.

What threw you off was not that you were nervous, but rather, what you were nervous about. Why, on the eve of the final encounter, was a simple proposition to your girlfriend more utterly nerve wracking than the possibility of the deaths of everyone you know?

These thoughts clouded your mind as you walked towards you and Rose's room. The ring felt like it weighed a ton as it sat in the pocket of your dress, and your thoughts soon drifted to how long it took to make it. You remember Rose explaining that simple items were much more difficult to alchemitize than complex ones, due to their simplistic nature making it harder to find two separate items that could be combined to create them. No wonder that the a single band of gold the width of a human finger had seemed a task akin to that of rocket science, but it would all be worth it. You were sure of that, at least.

You entered Rose's private quarters, and the sight inside dumbfounded you. Your girlfriend, all dressed up in that hideous light player robe of hers, was kneeling on the ground with her fingers locked together, whispering to the air. You recognized the language she was speaking as Hebrew; she had been kind enough to teach some of it prior to most of the religious ceremonies her and Dave hosted, but the greater knowledge of the language still eluded you. Since she hadn't noticed you enter the room, you deigned it necessary to tap her on the shoulder for attention. She turned around, mildly surprised, but evidently happy to see you.

“Dearest,” you began, “Are you praying?”

“Yes, I suppose I am.” She replied.

“But why? I've only ever seen you do it on holidays. Is it Yom Kippur again?”

Rose giggled. “Well, you're really supposed to pray every day, but I haven't been the best at keeping up with that. I thought I would just say a quick prayer to give us some additional luck, but I think I went a bit overboard. I found myself praying for almost everyone I know. I prayed for my mother, my brother, John and Jade, the residents of this new session, and even the ghosts in the dream bubbles, oddly enough. But mostly, I found myself praying for you.”

You blushed at that, and could already feel the tears welling up in your eyes. “Rose,” you trembled, “It's things like that that make me so happy that I met you, and that I get to do this.”

Without further hesitation, you knelt on one knee and pulled out the ring. Rose gasped, a look of utter shock on her face. “Is that a-a wedding ring?”

You nodded. “Rose, there are two realizations that have come to define my life. The first is that I am a woman, and the second is that I love you. I could say any number of things to you at this moment. I could call you my sun and stars, my entire universe, or my radiant angel, but no amount of purple prose could ever hope to convey the amount of unconditional affection I feel for you. I love you, Rose Lalonde, and I would really love for you to be my wife once this battle is over.”

Rose threw her arms around you, her eyes already flooded with joyous tears. “Yes!” She exclaimed, “Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes! I'll marry you! I love you more than anything, Kanaya Maryam!”

She pulled you in for a kiss, squeezing the two of you together as tight as could be as her lips enveloped yours. This, you knew, was your ultimate victory. Even if you failed tomorrow, you would always know that you had not only found true love, but become the true love of the magnificent woman you saw before you. That, in the end, was your triumph; a lasting, healthy romance with the most radiant, intelligent, and gorgeous person paradox space would ever know: Rose Lalonde.

 


	9. Day 25: Wedding Fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra long fic in celebration of the anniversary of those girls doing that thing.

This was the happiest day of your life. You had just been married to Kanaya Maryam, a brilliant young alien vampire who had both metaphorically and literally lighted the three darkest years of your life. You were currently sitting at a round table under a sun you helped create, with her and the group of people the two of you had come to know as your family. It was immaculate. This day was everything a day should be and more, but as you sat there, making idle conversation with your new wife and family and feeling an indescribably massive amount of pure, unadulterated love, a streak of fire formed in the sky overhead.

No one noticed it at first. It was only that when its trajectory became clearly defined as heading towards you, and when its size and fiery radiance became something literally impossible to miss, that the guests of your wedding began to get seriously bothered by it. When your attention was drawn to it by Roxy, the only thing you felt was a wave of raw fear. You thought that a copy of Sburb had somehow manifested itself on your Eden, and that Skaia had dispatched one last fiery projectile to strike you all down for thinking you could escape its unholy influence. You reached for your wife's hand, and squeezed it tightly. For all you knew, these would be the last seconds you had with her. Then, Roxy took aim at the object with her rifle, but instead of shooting it out of the sky, she confusedly described it to you.

“It looks like a woman... two women, on a jet pack.”

You and Kanaya turned to each other with looks of relief and excitement. “Let me see!” You asked.

Roxy handed you the rifle, and you used the scope to examine the object. It was just as you suspected.

“Team Scourge has made their triumphant return.” You proclaimed with a smirk.

About thirty seconds later, Vriska Serket and Terezi Pyrope landed in a grass field near your dining table. Everyone ran over to greet the Dreambubble's latest escapees. After exchanging hugs, or handshakes in the case of those they were less familiar with, with everyone in attendance, Kanaya decided to get answers on the more serious issues.

“Did you kill English?” She asked eagerly.

Vriska scoffed at that. “Please, fussyfangs! Do you think I would have come back here with out being eight hundred percent sure that rotten bastard had kicked it? He got sucked into a giant black hole alongside what remained of those creepy tentacle monsters, and I say good riddance!”

A wave of satisfaction swept through all that were gathered. Even Calliope, who was, at least partially, English's sister, and who was known for being almost completely incapable of working up any strong disdain towards anybody, found it difficult to feel anything but gratified at the news of his death.

“That is good to hear,” Declared Kanaya, “but what about our friends? Feferi, Porrim, and the other lost trolls and dancestors? And Davepeta? What became of them?”

“Well,” Terezi began, “We ran into Aradia and Davepeta a whole bunch of times when we were flying through there. In fact, they were the ones who lead me to Vriska, and gave us a whole bunch of pointers as to where we needed to go to get back here. Every time we met them, though, they were being followed by a rapidly expanding host of furthest ring inhabitants from a whole bunch of different timelines. Aradia told us that they was leading them somewhere where they would be safe from the self-destructing ring, but she never told us where.”

You raised a quizzical eyebrow at that. “Seems suspicious.”

“No shit!” Rejoined Vriska, “But that's just how Aradia is. You didn't know her that well, if at all, so it's not like you'd expect something like that, but it's textbook her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was just leading all those jobbers over here and was keeping us out of the loop for a laugh. But I guess we'll never know.”

“How about you guys?” Asked Terezi, “What have you been up to while we were gone?”

“I'm glad you asked!” Exclaimed Kanaya, “I'm sure you figured out that we won the session, made a new universe, and rebuilt our species's, but me and Rose have just been human married!” She proceeded to squeal with excitement and pull you in for a tight hug. You happily returned the favor.

“Marriage? Isn't that that human matesprit strengthening ritual?” Asked Vriska

“Well, yes, but it's something more.” You replied, “it's an agreement between two people to spend the rest of their natural lives together, because they love each other deeply, in a way that cannot be pinned down by silly labels like quadrants. Kanaya is more than my matesprit. She's my wife.”

Vriska only seemed to get more confused. “So wait, you love each other, like, outside of quadrants? Is that even a thing?”

It was then that Kanaya groaned. “Vriska, quadrants just don't matter, okay! You don't need a matesprit to pity or a kismesis to despise or a moirail to prevent you from doing horribly destructive things to yourself and others. You have _friends_ for all that stuff! You don't need to put all your relationships into little boxes because society tells you. We blew society up! None of that stupid quadrant shit matters anymore, so just quit it!”

Vriska looked completely stunned at your wife's ramble. “So... I don't need to conform to quadrants anymore, is what you're saying?”

Kanaya, who had bent down with her hands on her knees due to becoming quite tired from all the yelling she had just been doing, looked up at Vriska. “Yes. Yes I am.”

“Great!” Vriska then grabbed Terezi by the arm and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips. Terezi was initially shocked, but reciprocated after a couple of seconds, pulling Vriska deeper into their shared embrace. After about a minute of you and the crowd awkwardly watching the pair assault each others' mouths, team Scourge finally came up for air, wiping spit from lips that were twisted into fantastically happy grins.

“Oh my God!” Exclaimed Vriska, “This is such a relief! I don't need to worry about loosing my moirail anymore! I can have a moirail _and_ a matesprit at the same time!”

“Yeah!” Agreed Terezi, “I just had all these pent up emotions and affections for you bottled up inside that I had to keep down because of my obligations to you as a moirail, but now I can fulfill those obligations while letting those emotions express themselves at the same time! It's great!”

You sighed. “I'm glad to see the two of you figured out something my wife figured out half a decade ago.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too, Lalonde.” Vriska rejoined halfheartedly. “And thank you for sharing that epiphany of yours with us, fussyfangs.”

“You're welcome, Vriska. In spite of our past with each other, I'm happy for you and Terezi.”

Vriska nodded before taking some time to survey the wedding grounds. It was a simple arrangement. A few rows of chairs had been set up by the gazebo where you and Kanaya had exchanged vows, and there were a few tables set up around a buffet nearby. But Vriska seemed to notice something as being... off.

“Where's your wedding singer?” She asked.

“Wedding singer?” Responded Kanaya as you smacked your head in disdain. The only knowledge Vriska had about weddings up to this point had been you tricking her into watching “The Wedding Singer”. You had convinced her that every human wedding needed a wedding singer that replicated The Dan Band's performance in the movie as accurately as possible in order to be complete, and were only now realizing how badly that could have backfired in the middle of your actual wedding. How could you be so foolish?  
Vriska became incensed. “You guys don't have a wedding singer? Every wedding needs a wedding singer! Where's Casey?”

The Viceroy emerged from the crowd, decked out in their finest robes. Vriska produced her dice, and threw one at the ground adjacent to her. It instantly manifested as a serket-themed drum set. Vriska whispered some instructions in The Viceroy's ear, and they silently went to sit by the drumset.

“Now where's Harley?”

Jade nervously emerged from the gathered crowd, sporting a white dress with a green sash. “Do you still have your guitar?” Asked Vriska.

Jade nodded, producing the guitar from her sylladex. Vriska repeated the instructions she gave to The Viceroy to Jade, throwing down two more dice to make speakers that Jade proceeded to plug her guitar into.

“Now we need a pianist. You!” Vriska pointed to Jane, who had been huddling with her two girlfriends, Roxy and Calliope. “You're Jade's dancestor, right?”

“Um,” replied Jane, “actually I'm-”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Interjected Vriska, “You can play music, right? Like Jade does?”

“Um, well I can play piano, actually.” She responded nervously.

“Perfect!” Vriska repeated her instructions a third time, throwing down two more dice that manifested as an electric keyboard and speakers. Kanaya tapped Vriska on the back as Jane went to sit at the keyboard.

“Vriska,” she said, “You really do not need to do this.”

“Listen, Kanaya,” said Vriska, “it's not about what I need. It's about what you need, and what this wedding needs. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make your day.”

Vriska took her position at the center of her impromptu stage. She threw down her last three dice, and was briefly engulfed in a brilliant blue light before emerging in a shiny silver suit, holding a microphone connected to the largest speaker she had yet to materialize. As the newly assembled band began to play the opening notes to “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, Vriska addressed the gathered crowd.

“This one is in honor of the greatest love story paradox space has ever known. Well, second greatest.”

“I love you babe!” Cried Terezi.

“I love you too, baby!” Replied Vriska, “But anyway. This is in honor of Rose Lalonde and Kanaya Maryam, two beautiful young women who overcame impossible adversity out of love for their friends and each other, and who, in the end, found true happiness with each other. It's such a wonderful story,” and it was here that Vriska genuinely began to tear up, “that it makes me want to cry. It's such a wonderful story, that it makes me want to sing _Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you never come around..._ ”

What followed was a performance that combined Vriska's terrible singing voice and incredible bravado with a large audience to create an experience that was nothing short of humiliating for everyone involved. Roxy had her cell phone out to record the whole thing, while everyone else just sort of stood around, too embarrassed to say anything. You turned to Kanaya, hoping to make some witty banter, only to notice something off.

She was crying

“Dearest, what's wrong?” You asked, “Is Vriska's singing _that_ shameful to you?”

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, but it was her speech before that that got to me.” She turned to you, and looked upon you with such an undying affection as to cause tears to well up in your eyes as well as hers. “She was right, you know. About everything. I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.” As Vriska sang the chorus, you pulled your wife in for a kiss that was just as delightful as your first, and would be just as delightful as the untold thousands that would follow it.

 


End file.
